A thought-provoking new exhibition exploring the links between motherhood, identity, hope and new beginnings will open in Dundee on Friday 26 February.
At times humorous, at times heart-breaking, ‘The Mother Load: Dundee’ tells the stories and shares the experiences of women from around the world who are finding new ways to achieve that age-old challenge of balancing work and home life.
Central to this is the idea of community and the importance of building personal networks of support that can empathise, as well as be creatively inspiring.
This is perfectly portrayed in a unique project that has been created in collaboration with Dundee’s Young Mothers Unit by the US-based artists Lesli Robertson and Natalie Macellaio, and the artist and curator Clare Brennan from Abertay University.
The installation is a collection of hand-stitched prints made from found objects, each with a personal story behind it and each interwoven with the hopes and dreams these young mothers have for their children and their futures.
Loosely based on the quilting bees of past generations – where women would share stories, techniques, ideas and their lives – the young women took part in workshops over a three week period that were designed to help them connect with each other, share their experiences and create something beautiful that tells their stories – a creation that explores their identity, not only as mums, but as young women at the start of their adult life.
The heart-wrenchingly poignant photographic installation ‘Sleep While The Baby Sleeps’ also explores the idea of sharing experiences, this time through two mothers who are bringing up children in very different circumstances.
Marina Shterenberg – Hairbonds
Simone O’Callaghan began the project when her first child was born six years ago and invited Jenny McMillan, whose three-year-old son Blake has a rare genetic condition that leaves him vulnerable to disease and causes him profound disability, to participate.
Each mother has taken a photo of her own child every night since they were born, and the accompanying narratives which detail what each mum was doing while their baby was sleeping demonstrate the stark differences – as well as surprising similarities – between the two women’s experiences of motherhood.
Clare Brennan – Curator of Abertay University’s art gallery, the Hannah Maclure Centre – explains more about the exhibition:
“The exhibition takes its name from The Mother Load project, which is an international network of over 100 artists that was established by Lesli Robertson and Natalie Macellaio in 2012.”
“All the members of the network are also mothers and the idea behind it comes from the shared challenges that many women face as they try to juggle home life with their need and desire to still be creative.”
“This is true of everyone, not only artists, and I think it’s really important for women to find guilt-free time to engage in activities that are just for them, for them to express themselves, finding moments of self-contentment. But we all know that’s not easy! So this project is really a way to try and connect people so that they can learn from each other and inspire each other too.”
“The Mother Load was set up in recognition of this as a support network for artists to share ideas and experiences of how they cope with the burden of society’s expectations, and how they find ways to juggle all the different aspects of their lives.”
Interactive printed plates – Lesli Robertson and Natalie Macelliao
The artists who join The Mother Load are sent a blank copper plate and asked to mark it with their fingerprints and the fingerprints of each of their children.
The copper plate oxidizes over time, gradually revealing the prints and serving as a physical metaphor for the mother’s new identity – one that changes the moment she becomes a mother.
The other side of the copper plate holds a QR code that links to the artist’s website, tying the project back to the individual artist and the connection their hands have to their practice and their relationships.
An installation of these beautiful printed copper plates makes up the centrepiece of the exhibition. It is constantly evolving as new members join, and this is the first time it has been exhibited in the UK.
As well as highlighting the challenges that motherhood brings, however, the exhibition also turns stereotypical notions of what it means to be a mother on their head, questioning cultural norms.
House Arrest butter – Pernille Spence and Zoe Irvine
The playful ‘House Arrest: Domestic Actions’ is a case in point: sound artist Zoe Irvine and performance artist Pernille Spence – who are both mothers – have teamed up to bring domestic appliances to the (kitchen) table in their performance-to-camera film work.
Using electric whisks, blenders, cutlery and food, the duo manipulate everyday domestic actions to disrupt the norm and bring heightened consideration to common household acts. These slight contraventions of expected domestic behaviour create a rhythmical and visually arresting video piece.
Running parallel to the exhibition is a series of events including film screenings, talks, a mini symposium and performative workshops. For the full programme please visit the Hannah Maclure Centre website.
The exhibition previews on Friday 26 February at 6pm and runs until Friday 15 April in the Hannah Maclure Centre at Abertay University.